Local elections in West Bank to be postponed by 4 months

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the local elections in the West Bank will be postponed by four months. This decision comes just a day after the Palestinian Supreme Court ruled to exclude the Gaza Strip from the local elections.

A day after the Palestinian Supreme Court in Ramallah ruled that the upcoming local elections will not take place in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian National Authority announced that the local elections in the West Bank will be postponed by four months.

Yesterday, JOL reported that the court decided to cancel the local elections in Gaza, citing that the courts in Gaza are under the control of Hamas and illegal and, therefore, an election process cannot take place there in a proper manner. Before yesterday’s decision, two courts in Gaza ruled to cancel Fatah’s participation in the local elections.

Hamas quickly condemned the decision to postpone the local elections and accused Fatah of trying to prevent them from taking place. “We call for the election committee to complete the process of the election as agreed upon from the beginning and not accept any deviation from the original plan,” said Hamas in a statement.

The terrorist organization also responded to yesterday’s decision: “We will consult with the other factions in order to determine how to carry on.”